Saggese slugs first career blast, dazzles defensively during career night

TORONTO -- Thomas Saggese can’t say this is just how he pictured it. The truth is he hadn’t pictured it in a while.

Everything about Saggese’s first career home run was picture perfect: a no-doubt solo blast to tie the game in the eighth inning. That was after a pair of highlight-reel defensive plays from the Cardinals’ No. 4 prospect, too.

Still, Saggese had both feet on the ground after that booming display.

“To be honest, as I've been in the Minors, I've never really thought about production in the big leagues,” Saggese said after the Cardinals’ 11-inning, 4-3 loss to the Blue Jays on Friday night. “Obviously I've dreamed of doing well, producing and winning in the big leagues, but I've been more, I don't know why, but blessed with the attitude of, ‘Let me just do what's in front of me today.’ And so it hadn't really crossed my mind in a while.”

Every kid who plays baseball grows up dreaming of their first big league home run, but as Saggese made his way through the Minors, childhood projections gave way to everyday work, and staying in the present became a powerful tool.

It all led him to that clutch at-bat in the eighth inning at Rogers Centre.

Saggese swung on the fourth pitch he saw from lefty reliever Génesis Cabrera, a curveball low in the zone that traveled a Statcast-projected 374 feet to left field to tie the game. It left Saggese’s bat in a hurry, and he knew it was gone right away. As he rounded the bases, there was only one thing on his mind.

“I was just excited that we tied the game, to be honest,” said Saggese. “I thought it was a pretty cool experience in my first big league home run. That’s something you dream about as well, [hitting it] in a big situation like that, that was pretty exciting. But honestly I was more thinking that we just tied the game.”

We have yet to see a moment get too big for the 22-year-old.

On the heels of recording his first big league hit and RBI, while playing well enough at second to help Sonny Gray carry a perfect-game bid into the sixth inning, Saggese shined with the glove again on Friday.

After driving in one of two runs for the Cardinals in the top of the first, Saggese covered 67 feet all the way to shallow right field to make an over-the-shoulder catch in no man’s land before tossing to Paul Goldschmidt to double up the runner at first base. Saggese reached a max speed of 21.8 feet per second, better than 95 percent of the league.

From the mound, all starter Erick Fedde could do was bow in gratitude.

“It couldn't have worked out better,” said Fedde. “Hats off to him. He had a hell of a game for us. Multiple good plays for me, which made my life easier, and obviously the big home run. He was great today and he's been a really good addition to the team so far.”

All in all, a great day at the office. A win would’ve made it closer to perfect.

The Cardinals (74-73) dropped even further in the NL Wild Card race. No one is ready to call it a season yet, but it stings a bit more to drop winnable games like Friday’s, especially against a team under .500.

“It's a tough one,” said manager Oliver Marmol. “You look at that game, there's a lot of different ways of winning it.”

The issues in this one were more of the same. St. Louis went 2-for-19 with runners in scoring position, struggling to capitalize on a handful of potentially momentum-shifting situations throughout the game.

Saggese seemed to provide the shot in the arm the team needed. Still, St. Louis couldn’t find a way to cross home plate in extras, either. So the homer wasn’t how he imagined it, but Saggese had certainly pictured coming through in the clutch moments.

“It's definitely intense, but it's the fun part of the game, honestly,” said Saggese. “ … That's the part that we all love, and that fans love. And I love to be in those moments to try and make the play that helps the team win or get the hit that helps the team win. It's cool. It could be stressful. It could be good, though, you know? I think it's kind of whatever you make it.”